Thursday, October 08, 2015

One thing the following item from Equality Matters proves - you don't need to follow any tenet of responsible journalism to work for Fox News:

Fox
News reported a bogus story about a California mom who claims to have
been kicked out of an REI sporting goods store for complaining about a
man frightening her daughter in the store's women's restroom. Fox's
reporting was based on statements made by an anti-LGBT hate group with a
history of fabricating similar incidents in order to fearmonger about
transgender people using public restrooms.

Fox Parroted Mom's Allegation Of Being "Booted" From Store.
In an October 2 article on FoxNews.com, Fox News reporter Perry
Chiaramonte reported a California woman's allegation that she was kicked
out of a Santa Rosa REI sporting goods store after complaining that a
man had frightened her daughter in the women's restroom:

A California mom who says she was recently kicked out of a sporting
goods store after alerting a manager that man had frightened her young
daughter in the women's restroom is demanding answers - and a policy
change - from the Washington-based chain.

The woman, who spoke to FoxNews.com but asked not to be identified,
said she was shopping with her 12-year-old daughter and the girl's
younger friend when her daughter told her what had happened moments
earlier at an REI sporting goods store during a shopping trip in late
August.

"We started to drive to another store and she said to me, 'Mom, I
need to tell you something,'" said the woman. "I asked her what was
wrong and she told me 'A man used the bathroom while we were in there
and it scared me.'"

When the mother turned the car around and went back to the store to
confront the manager of the Santa Rosa store, she said she was stunned
to learn that the man, who she said was not dressed in women's clothes
and did not appear outwardly to be transgender, had done nothing wrong
in the eyes of the employees and other customers. [FoxNews.com, 10/2/15]

There ARE a couple of things wrong with this story. We don't know the identity of the woman who alleged this incident. REI investigated and - surprise, surprise - couldn't find anything to verify the accuracy of the woman's tale:

After Investigation, REI Finds "No Evidence" Of Incident, Confirms Woman Was Not Asked To Leave. In
a statement posted on their website, REI said store personnel had found
no evidence to support the claim that a man was in the women's
restroom. Additionally, the sporting goods retailer denied the woman's
allegation that she was asked to leave the store (emphasis added):

And last but not least, according to Equality Matters, Fox News based its report on claims made by an anti-gay hate group called the Pacific Justice Institute. PJI is not known to many folks, but the organization has a history of pushing false stories. Equality Matters gave two for an example:

PJI Previously Fabricated A Story About Transgender Bathroom Access.
In 2013, the PJI was criticized after being caught fabricating a story
about a transgender Colorado student who it said was harassing girls in a
school bathroom. Fox Nation reported that bogus story without issuing a retraction. [Media Matters, 12/29/13]

Fox Was Recently Duped By Another Bogus PJI Story About LGBT People.
In February 2015, Fox News contributor Todd Starnes fell for another
another bogus PJI horror story about anti-gay students being bullied at a
California high school. [Media Matters, 2/19/15]

It's junk like this which should anger not only lgbts about Fox News, but also conservatives. Many at Fox News have said that the network exists to push the conservative point of view in the media. So I guess articles like this means that the conservative point of view is unverified slanders via "anonymous" sources.

Editor's note - As some of you may have noticed, my postings have been a bit meager. The reason is I live in Columbia, SC and as you know, we have been hit with disastrous flooding. By the grace of God, my area has been mostly untouched (apparently my area is so ghetto, pizza deliveries AND natural disasters skip it). Still things have been chaotic around here as we monitor the damage done to the city and state. Keep South Carolina in your mind and prayers.

Every LGBTQ+ Person Should Read This - Yes and double yes. Every lgbt person should read this to know the stock of their worth, especially our youth. I love this reminder of where we came from and how people like us changed history and transformed the world for the better.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.